This application claims the priority of Japanese Patent Applications Nos. 6-34126 and 6-34127 filed on Feb. 7th, 1994, which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a case structure adaptable for a film-replaceable camera and characteristic of easy construction of a body case.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, lens-mounted films have been widely adopted as disposable cameras. Such a lens-mounted film is readily available and can be handed to a developing agent as it is on completion of photography. The lens-mounted film merely feeds film unidirectionally and solely includes simple components essential to photography. Specifically, a film rewind mechanism is not included and a back cover cannot be opened or closed. Furthermore, the housing and package of the lens-mounted film are strong merely enough to withstand the number of exposures performed on a roll of film. Thus, efforts have been made to realize low manufacturing cost.
FIG. 11 shows a body case for a conventional lens-mounted film. A body case 1 is made of a plastic material. The body case 1 has a viewfinder opening 2, a photographing lens opening 3, and a flash lamp opening 4. A photography button (release button) 5 is formed in the left-hand part of the top of the body case. An acting member 6 for executing shutter release operation is formed under the photography button 5 and integrated with it. The photography button 5 is integrated into the body case 1 via a coupling 7. The photography button 5 nods with the proximal end of the coupling 7 as a supporting point. With the nod, the acting member 6 executes release operation.
A charging button 8 for use in executing charging is integrated into the body case 1 via a coupling 9 and located below the flash lamp opening 4. A charging switch is incorporated in the charging button 8. The body case 1 is entirely packaged in order to intercept external light and keep the appearance unimpaired. The charging button 8 is therefore manipulated through the package material. When the charging button 8 is pressed, it is started to charge a capacitor for strobe flashing. According to this layout, the photography button 5, acting member 6, and charging button 8 are integrated into tile body case 1. The body case 1 is then packaged. The layout is therefore advantageous in that assembling and manufacturing can be achieved effortlessly.
A conventional camera permitting film replacement (or film rewind) is configured completely differently from the foregoing lens-mounted film. The case 1, photography button 5, and charging button 8 have rigid structures that cost relatively high.
If the lens-mounted film can be upgraded in terms of service life and remodeled as a film-replaceable camera, it would prove very useful and offer another value. The present applicant has proposed such an idea that a film-replaceable simplified camera is manufactured at low cost by utilizing a film feed mechanism, a shutter mechanism, a strobe flashing mechanism, and other mechanisms employed in a lens-mounted film.
For the simplified camera, a back cover is designed to be opened. Unlike the lens-mounted film, the case of the simplified camera cannot entirely be packaged. There is difficulty in adopting the structure of the photography button 5 integrated into the body case 1 as shown in FIG. 11. A pivot type photography button must therefore be mounted separately. In this case, mounting should pose no problem. Moreover, the photography button should have the structure resistive to a large number of exposures.
An acting unit for executing charging must be structured without performing packaging from the viewpoint of service life. An acting unit for executing strobe charging may be designed and manufactured as a separate structure. However for cost reduction, it is required to optimize components of a lens-mounted film.